Hello all and welcome to the second issue of the Conquer Club Newsletter!

Thankyou to all who read the first issue which was a huge success, largely because of the great team we have assembled. If there is a section of the newsletter you really enjoy reading, i encourage you to drop the writer a PM just to tell them that you enjoy reading their articles. If there is one thing that is essential to a good newsletter, it would be encouraging the writer's. They put a lot of effort into their articles and if there is one thing they can't get enough of, it would be positive feedback from the community.

This week we also say a sudden and sad farewell to Moran555 who was the Community Opinion Reporter. He was due to start this week but due to unexpected circumstances had to pull out at the last minute. We wish Moran all the best in the future and hope he comes back to CC soon.

With the sudden farewell to our Community Opinion Reporter Moran555, we are now seeking someone to fill his now vacant position. If you think you are the person for the job, then all you need to do is fill out the simple form below and send it to samuelc812 to be considered.

Name:

Personal Statement:

Here are just a few examples of the positive feedback we have received in the past fortnight...

I just wanted to thank all of you, I just finished reading the newsletter and am in love

Overall a FANTASTIC first issue. I'm really excited to see where this goes guys.

You rock my worldTwill

Downey wrote:This is wonderful guys.Kudos to all of you!

sully800 wrote:Thanks for all your work with this newsletter! It's very positive for the site and I love to see it.

Sully

Riazor wrote:Very nice, a good read, and everyone SHOULD get this in their inboxes Well done, and i hope many more of the same quality will follow!

The Fuzzy Pengui wrote:Great initiative and idea, by the way!

--TFP

MarVal wrote:Great work, you're doing

GrtzMarV

So here we are again, like the veritable bad penny, or would that be local newspaper? Dropping on your 'virtual' mat.

I really don't know how these weeks keep flipping by, but then it's all to do with a space time continuum or some such...far too complicated for a simpleton like me. I read recently that there could well be infinite multi universes all existing in different states of reality. I then wondered, would this mean that perhaps there were an infinite number of conquer clubs? Of course not, this place would have to be unique...wouldn't it?

Anyway, let’s take a nose around at what's happening in this cc world.

Starting in the crystal blue waters of GD, I see that adamk89 decided to say goodbye cruel world (metaphorically speaking you understand). But then I see the circling wolves are nipping at the supposed carcass, reminding anyone who is interested that he is till playing 2 weeks later on speed games. Shame on you Adam. Go on, come clean, and tell us what the problem is. I see you have been winning a few doodle games since that fateful moment....have you been naughty and overdosing on them perhaps?

The Bandits free premium competition seems to have engaged a lot of members of cc. I have it from an impeccable source that the number of entries has been staggering....well am I glad they aren't being sent to me!

The reign of King Herpes as Conqueror finally came to an end with Sugarsnap usurping his spot. I do notice that the breaching of 6,000 points has temporarily fallen back, but I am sure in my mind this wont be for long. Which brings me to my next point, and if you'll excuse the double use this subject is 'point inflation'. This 'point inflation is here to stay, get used to it...Now you thought I was about to debate this didn't you, but let me tell you, I was in the scoring ad-hoc group and that was enough to confirm to me that this subject will always be debated to the point of mind numbing boredom...a bit like ratings. Now while I talk about ratings, there seems to be some confusion, whereas it's simple....now please pay attention

If some one rates you, then that rating is rated amongst your ratings. The ratings of all those who rated you are added to a total rating and then divided by the number of ratings. However, if you get a zero rating, then that rating is not included either in your ratings or, in fact, in the average of your ratings. So you can rest easy that a zero rating is, in fact, better than a single star rating.

There, that's sorted that.

Now, where was I?...oh yes....I wandered down into C&A and of course, like clockwork, there was that unofficial Multi hunter and anti hero, JR, posting up another couple of suspects. Sailorseal bravely put the point forward that our JR needed more evidence than that posted. JR responded with "over 100 busted and I never been wrong ". Now at this point those of us who know the way JR operates would shrug and move on, assuming another bust was happening soon. But this time a little discussion took place that left me wondering. After sailor posted, Bones (weren't you on Star Trek?) pointed out that the previous time JR had made such a claim he was proved wrong, but anyway, the suspects were most probably guilty all the same. JR, with superb aplomb, ignores this and repeats that nobody has ever proven him wrong. Now another couple of posts goes by, then sailor returns. However, this time he says "these are multis..". Then the very next post comes in from king achilles with the simple word busted. Now what I want to know is what made sailor change his mind? Is there something we should be told? Do we care?

So what have been the perky, pesky posts this past fortnight? Well this issue's little gem just has to be a recent offering from Twill himself.

Twill wrote:What amazes me is how many people have jumped in this thread to try to be annoying.

It's a simple request to change a name from something that could be misconstrued as offensive to something not, and here we have brett jumping on a soap box to beat a separate issue from another thread, owen posting presumably because he has to post whenever brett does Timminz posting to take a sarcastic dig at owen, Bald posting off topic, brett making a 2nd post baiting kotaro, artimis arguing presumably for the sake of it, or perhaps taking the bait that brett laid down and medefe just posting off topic to call everyone stupid.

n1gs, send me a PM with your preferred username and I'll pass it up to the admins.

The rest of you, I'm locking this thread because you're all need to get a grip

Certainly had me chortling.....oh and Twill...it's "I'm locking this thread because you all need to get a grip"

See you all soon, in the meantime, have a gripperific time in this world of cc (with a nod in Twills direction for those previous great signoffs).

TABLE OF CONTENTS

General News

Double Interview with...

Fortnightly Poll

Current Signups

Tournaments Guides, Tips & Tricks

Editor's Note

GENERAL NEWS

Oh my God!It is an incredible week for Tournaments Tournaments Directors announced these new features (here):

Franchised Tournaments

International Tournaments

Franchised Tournaments could be the right way to have a high quality set of tournaments in future and it's certainly a good shot in the arm for tournament organizers. International Tournaments, now approved on a case-by-case basis, will be organized following some few appropriate guidelines and so international organizers could have a easier life.Is this a direct signal for a "day by day" bigger international community?Stay online and you will find all the answers you need!

DOUBLE INTERVIEW WITH...

Welcome to "Double interview with..."In first issue i reported that two honorable CC members have joined the Tournaments Directors Group.So i asked to them something about CC, specially about Tournaments, in this fast 4 questions double interview:

Question: If you take look in the past, what do you think/feel about your experience on ConquerClub?

Gilligan wrote:Back when I first joined - It was the first time I've ever played Wrisk, and it took me 9 games to win one, I had no idea what I was doing. After I got the feel - I started to get more into the forums, which led to the tournament forum - and in the long run Generation One - And in the longer run, Tournament Director. These two and a half years have been amazing.

Natewolfman wrote:Since I started here CC has been a pretty big part of my life, originally just playing risk, a game I loved has grown into being a part of this community which is a much more rewarding experience.

Question: Now you have become Tournaments Directors, is there something new for us in the future about tournaments?

Gilligan wrote:Maybe, maybe not.

Natewolfman wrote:The tournament forum is an ever growning beast, much like the rest of CC, with Gilligan and myself as TD's we will be helping things run more smoothly, and if we have any say in it, some new advancments will be coming, though what I cannot say .

Question: ConquerClub Newbies, is there any advice you can give to them "to live” a full CC experience?

Gilligan wrote:First off, don't leave after the first 'Join Game' link... There's more in the forum, IE tournaments. Seriously, I think participating in tournaments makes ones stay at Conquer Club that much better to maximize the sense of competition.

Natewolfman wrote:Dont be afraid to branch out, play maps your not familiar with, go to the forums, try some tournaments, comment on some maps. Do this and you may find some areas you never knew youd love

Question: In your opinion, which are the 3 most important things to organize a successful Tournament?

Gilligan wrote:1: Organization. Without organization it will be a lot harder.2: Creativity. Make a tournament creative and exciting so that people will want to join it.3: Length. Don't make it short, make it 2-3 months so that it will be hard to win it and it makes it look a lot better than one that lasts a month or less.

Natewolfman wrote:Patience, Resolve, and Inspiration.

FORTNIGHTLY POLL

A successful tournament requires skill, in fact you receive a tournament contribution when you organized and completed it.But to win a tournament requires skill too! Why isn't there also a medal?We asked to community about that:

Latest Poll

Question: Do you think there will be a special medal for a Tournament winner?

Results:

In this issue, tournament organizers are on the line, and so we want know what they think about Franchised...

New Poll

Question: Do you think Franchise Tournaments are a good addition to CC?

If you like to give us your opinion, you can find it here.(Every poll takes only the community opinion)

Last issue we learnt the basic about organizing tournaments, now we have all the information to create the first post:Let's go to recruit players...First of all, you must be certain that you have the time to spend that a good organization needs.Ok? Go to the create/join a tournament subforum and open a new topic.That's no a single way to edit the first post, but could be something similar to this:

Description - Organizers can use diferent themes for tournaments, you could try create a sort of little story to customize you tournament (optional)

Gameplay - Players must know how your tournament will works

Game Settings - You can compile a simple list of games settings, only if possible in your tournament

Signup

I suggest you to do a tidy and clear post as possible, players and tournaments directors will be happy to find all they need in a while! Next issue we learn how to request tournament privileges and to start creating games.

EDITOR'S NOTEIf you have some interesting ideas or suggestions, please contact me with a PM.Thank you Thenobodies80

France 1789 - pamoa created this map of France, based in the year 1789.Cairns Metro - cairnswk has created another map based around his hometown of Cairns in Australia — this one about the Metro system thereWWI Ottoman Empire - cairnswk made this map on the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East during World War I

Special: USA Map PackOVERVIEWWidowMakers has published this gorgeous map pack, consisting of 6 maps based around the bonus continents from the original USA map. He used the same font type, style and "separation" from the original, while adding a different gameplay type (multiple bonuses) and beautiful backgrounds. Click here to see the thread on these maps, and insert your welcome opinions!USA: Great Lakes ………….USA: New England ………….USA: Rockies ………….USA: Southeast …………. USA: Southwest ………….USA: West ………….

AUDIO INTERVIEWInstead of doing the normal interview type (text Q&A) like the Tournaments and Foundry Newsletters do, WidowMakers and I decided to do an audio interview via Skype. We recorded it, and it is available for you to listen to by clicking on the following link. The interview is about 9 minutes long, and gives good insight onto the 6-pack from the perspective of the maker.http://www.fileden.com/files/2009/2/12/2319029/CCwidowmaker2.mp3Note: my microphone distorted my voice a bit so it's not that low

Map Webpagechipv gives us this great page devoted to all of the maps created by the users here at Conquer Club. You can sort by maker, map, and more, and it even has "tags" built in about the gameplay and graphics that you can view and consult before joining games on the maps. Click here to view this great and useful page!

EDITOR'S NOTEIf you have some interesting ideas or suggestions about, please contact me with a PM.Happy Conquering!.44

In the last episode, we looked at the oldest standing Clan on the site, The Imperial Dragoons. When clans were first introduced to the site, there were a few challenges that were played out, but they were not always well documented or easily located in the forums. Challenges happened on a very random basis and were a very small part of this site. There was no tracking of wins or losses and really was for informal bragging rights. Many clans claimed to be the best, but many were judged on their members rather than a clan as a whole.

Challenges kept happening here and there for some time. Then with a bold statement, one clan stepped up and issued a challenge to all clans on the site. On July 14th, 2007, The Horsemen Of The Apocalypse (THOTA) posted their arrival to CC. THOTA was and still is a small elite group of players. Like many other new clans, they took some verbal abuse and were often referred to as the "ponies". However, with several very strong wins, they quickly earned the respect of all clans as "the clan to beat".

There are several things that make THOTA unique. The first is that they do not have a recruitment thread. They are a small group and rarely add new members, but the members that do join are highly skilled team players. The second and maybe the most notable to all other clans is that THOTA is undefeated in all of their clan wars. That's right, not a single loss. There are 2 notable ties though. THOTA and The Imperial Dragoons tied 20-20 in a challenge and decided to extend the match to 100 games. The final result was 53-47 for THOTA. The second was an 8-8 draw against Legion of the Damned in the (abandoned) Teams Doubles League.

Since the THOTA callout thread, clans have emerged to take on the best. Whether it be in a head to head challenge, as part of a tournament, or as part of a league. There are many completed challenges and tournaments with clans in them. However, there has not yet been a completed league. That should all change by July of 2009 with theClan League.

Q: Tell us what it is like to be both a Tournament and Global Moderator at the same time?

A: Busy. No, seriously, it is. When I'm logged on for relatively short periods of time, I'll grant tournament privileges, move tournament threads, answer PMs, and read some around the forums to keep up to speed on things. When I find bigger blocks of time is when I do things like update my own tournaments and make constructive contributions (like the recent tournament announcement). Those more constructive things typically are in the private forums though.

Q: Do you enjoy contributing to the site the way you do?

A: 100%. There are times when I get overwhelmed with things, but CC is a great escape from the busyness of school. I enjoy getting to contribute to the site where I spend my free time.

Q: How did you hear about ConquerClub.com?

A: A guy from school showed me the site, and I stuck around. I bought premium after the 1v1 games became available.

Q: Could you tell us a bit about your relationship with former Tournament Director Optimus Prime?

A: Well, he is the leader of the autobots, so I am of course at war with him. Optimus is just a guy who I met on CC. We became friends and both started G1. I helped him with some tournament things then he and Steelhorse asked me if I wanted to join them as a Director.

Q: What is it that drives you to keep moderating the site?

A: Wanting to contribute to a site where I choose to spend my time. It's much more productive than sitting on Facebook or 360 all day.

Q: How does it feel to be in so many interviews in so many recent newsletters?

A: Not quite what I was expecting. The foundry and tournament ones were not supposed to fall so close together. This one has been a few weeks later though.

Q: As a moderator what are some things that TOs can do that would make your job easier?

A: Use the form when requesting privileges!! And it would be nice if the links were to the thread title and not an individual post. That form really is what we virtually copy/paste into our privileges medal.

Q: Have the efforts to showcase TOs with medals/Hall of Fame reduced the number of deadbeat tournaments?

A: That's hard to tell. The number of completed tournaments have more than doubled since September, so of course there has been a rise in the number of abandoned tournaments. I just haven't had a chance to do them on a frequent enough basis (but Natewolfman should be taking that over from me), so they get backlogged. I did improve our private records of abandoned tournaments, which has really helped keep things organized. (Organization really is the key to running a successful forum.)

Q: What kept you coming back to CC, before you were mod?

A: G1 and tournament organizing.

Q: What keeps you coming back to CC, now that you've been a mod for a while?

A: G1 and tournaments and the other mods.

Q: What are your thoughts on monkeys?

A: That they are incredibly crazy for choosing AndyDufresne as their leader.

Q: Knowing everything you know now, would you still choose to become a mod today if you were offered a position?

A: Yes

Q: What do you envision for 2009 in conquer club?

A: After the rough year of 2008, this year should be one where the positive contributions are emphasized. We now have 3 forum newsletters; thriving tournaments, foundry, and clans; a signature contest from BPB; and the first of hopefully many special mod events. People should be using the forums to have a good time and not just create the kind of drama that plagued 2008.

Q: What is your best memory here on conquer club?

A: Getting my g/f to join the site, and being asked to join the Team.

Q: Do you have any pet projects planned for the year?

A: Kind of. They aren't necessarily my projects, but I will help push and prod some of the other things that are being discussed privately. There are some things that I push for privately but could never take credit for in the public because they are Team efforts.

Q: Who really is better tournament or foundry folk?

A: Tournaments of course. Far less drama (typically).

Q: What is your view about multis being allowed to buy back into the site ?

A: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." I do think it's fine to give chances to people who break the rules. But trolls are idiots, and I like to hit them with my iron fist.

Q: What is your favourite colour?

A: I don't speak British.

Q: What is your favorite part about CC?

A: Spending time with the G1 and TeamCC crowds. They really are a good bunch to hang out with.

Q: What is your favorite part of being a mod?

A: Being able to give input on projects and decisions that ultimately are going to improve the site.

Q: Do you think the current scoring system is good?

A: Yes. It is simple and straightforward enough to understand and explain. It rewards the upsets and downplays the expected wins. The only thing bad about it are the people who exploit it just to gain points (or dump them in some instances).

Q: What was the first map you ever played, and were you farmed as a noob?

A: My first game was on U.S. Senate with a couple people from my school. And I'm pretty sure farming didn't exist back then.

Q: Do you like spam? Or any overly processed foods, such as fruit roll ups?

A: Not really.

Q: How long were you on the site, before you became a moderator?

A: Almost a year.

Q: How long after you became a Tournament Director, did you step up to be Global?

A: 6 months? maybe a bit less.

Q: Have you ever recommended to Twill somebody to become a mod? If so, have any become one?

A: Yep, I recommended both Natewolfman and Gilligan. All mods get to give input on any new potential mods, so I've commented on most of the new mods who have joined after me.

Q: Thank you Night Strike for your time

A: And it took a lot of it.

Community Competitions are something that i have wanted to run for a while now, and finally the day has come. These competitions will be run through this newsletter, and can last up to 3 months at time. They will not be complicated, so everyone can be involved and participate if they wish.

General OutlineSo basically over the next 2 weeks the newsletter will be taking sign-ups for our very first competition. After the 3rd issue has been published, each participant will receive 10 - 15 questions that they need to complete over the following 2 weeks between the issues of the newsletter. These questions will be made up of mostly Conquer Club Trivia, as well as the odd Brain Bender, Logic Puzzle or whatever we think might just challenge you. Each fortnight on the Thursday before each issue is published, you will submit your answers to the newsletter. After being marked each fortnight, the scoreboard (which will be kept in the newsletter) will be updated with the new scores. At the end of 3 months, the leader(s) at the top of the scoreboard will receive something special. This prize is something everyone will want, and when i say everyone i mean everyone.

So if you think you're pretty smart and know a lot of stuff about this site, i encourage you to sign up and prove yourself

If you are interested then please contact the.killing.44 by sending him a PM explaining you're interest, any PM's not sent to the.killing.44 will be ignored. I think it is only fair that NO Admins, Global Moderator's or Newsletter Staff can participate in these contests, as they will have some obvious advantages, I am however going to allow normal mods to enter. So sign up and prove your intelligence!

Stay Tuned for the next issue of the Conquer Club Newsletter for an interview with Multi-Hunter, sully800. You can submit your questions here --> sully800 Interview

Submitting Your Own Articles

If you have a story you think the Conquer Club Community would find interesting, you can submit your articles to samuelc812. If the CC News Team enjoy it than you may just see your article published in the Newsletter!

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